Employment Growth of New Firms

This paper provides an overview of empirical studies on employment growth in new firms and offers a systematic analysis of new empirical data to address the methodological issues identified. Using a longitudinal database of 354 firms over their first ten years, we examine factors associated with new firm growth in terms of R&D, inter-firm alliancing, new product development, and exporting; these are activities that have been identified as denoting dynamic capabilities. The empirical evidence gives some evidence for the positive association between dynamic capabilities and new firm growth. Inter-firm alliancing is the only indicator of dynamic capabilities that has a positive effect on new firm growth. No moderating effect on dynamic capabilities and growth could be seen to be exerted by the level of human capital and/or firm resources. Environmental dynamism – assumed to be highly relevant in the dynamic capability approach – is not revealed to be a moderating factor affecting the relationship between dynamic capabilities and new firm growth.

Entrepreneurship in the Netherlands; New economy: new entrepreneurs!

Dit onderzoek beschrijft de belangrijkheid van bestaande en startende bedrijven voor de Nederlandse economie. In drie bijdragen wordt uit verschillende invalshoeken ingegaan op de relatie tussen ondernemerschap en de nieuwe economie. De effecten van ICT op het economische proces worden behandeld. Daarnaast wordt ingegaan op de vraag of de 21ste eeuw een nieuwe gouden eeuw zal zijn voor ondernemerschap. Tot slot komt de rol van kennisgerichte bedrijven in de nieuwe economie uit macro-economisch oogpunt aan de orde.

ACQUISITION AND GROWTH IN A PIONEERING CLUSTER OF HIGH TECH FIRMS

Acquisition is a means by which founders and investors can realise the value of their enterprises and as such is part of the life cycle of many technology enterprises. Acquisition of local firms attracts external capital to the area and results in postacquisition spin-off by former employees, but it takes another business generation for any spin-off firms to grow to the size of their parent. The innovative potential of young firms that are subsumed within a corporate entity may not be realised. This paper quantifies the available data on patterns of acquisition and their impact in the Cambridge technology cluster. Among all acquired firms over the period 1988-2008, 80% were approaching mid-size (50 employees). Firms with good prospects/ a growth record, spin-off firms and firms funded by venture capital were particularly likely to be acquired, particularly as opportunities for IPO diminished in the economic downturn